Before Lily
by Aaliyah-Charity
Summary: Before it was Lily and James, it was YOU and James! But what does Lily have to do with it? And why is Sirius insane? RR!
1. Default Chapter

Before Lily  
  
By: Aaliyah-Charity  
  
A/N: Hey folks! Gryffindor-Cynthia had an AWESOME idea of a YOU story, where YOU date James! Yes, we all know he ends up with Lily, but a girl can dream, right?  
  
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling totally owns 'Harry Potter'  
  
Chapter 1: The Plan  
  
It was pretty evident that the sight of Lily Evans made James Potter flush, only it was apparent to his closest friends, and not anybody else. He wanted her so bad, but it seemed like every time she came close to him, he did something stupid, with emphasis on rude and mean. True, he did act egotistic and maybe he was-Quidditch builds up confidence easily. Whatever the situation, he was truly in love.  
  
"Good morning," Sirius said to his best friend at the Gryffindor table. He mumbled some kind of a response, still sleepy from his slumber. Sirius smiled at him, shaking his head at his friend. James looked over at Lily, but when he caught her eye, she merely glared at him and turned away. He sighed, nursing his head in his arms. Sirius felt sorry for his dear friend, until....  
  
"I GOT IT!" he yelled and stood. Everyone in the Great Hall froze and stared at him, and he sat down quickly. James was taken aghast, and looked at his crazy best friend. He was used to his crazy antics, and he wasn't quite sure if he was up to it today, since he was fatigued with love and sleepiness.  
  
"What's your plan?" he asked, not interested. He was used to Sirius and his never ending supply of energy.  
  
"Well, why don't you make her jealous?" he suggested, "She'll never know what came her way! Just go out with another girl until she gets to her senses and begs you to date her instead!"  
  
"It'll never work," James replied pessimistically.  
  
"Yes it will!" Sirius demanded, "All we have to do is find a girl stupid enough to go through with it!"  
  
"That's a lovely way to put it," James responded, scratching his head.  
  
"Well, it's true," he said, "You have to be stupid if you went along with this sort of plan...but that's why we have got to keep it secret from the lucky girl! Now look around, but not at the Slytherin table."  
  
James heaved a sigh and did as his best friend said, not seeing any promising girls. He merely put his head again, and almost fell asleep, when...  
  
"I FOUND HER!" he yelled again. Professor McGonagall yelled at them quite sharply that if she heard another outburst, she would take points away from their house. How can you take points from your own house? It baffled everyone.  
  
"Who?" James asked, not quite interested.  
  
"Her!" Sirius pointed, and it just happened to be you. Your friends, who were quite taken with your latest clumsy adventure, surrounded you at the table. Your laughter reached the ears of the two boys, and they got a closer look at you. You were stunning, but not too stunning. It was obvious that the boys had never seen you before, or if they did, they had taken no heed to give you any attention. The feelings were mutual however, even if you didn't realize it.  
  
"Who is she?" James asked Sirius, curious.  
  
"I don't know. She's in our house, but I've never noticed her before," he replied, "She looks our age though, so she'll be perfect. Just ask her for a drink at the next Hogmeade trip next weekend."  
  
"Wouldn't that seem odd if I've never acknowledged her existence?" he asked.  
  
"Nope...not at all!" Sirius said, not really hearing James's question. James took another look at Lily, suddenly got a boost of determination, stood up strong, and walked your way. One of your friends noticed him, and stared with her mouth agape, but you didn't. In fact, you wouldn't even know he was there, for at that exact moment, Professor Dippet called your name out.  
  
James looked very embarrassed and hurried back to his seat, where Remus and Peter had just arrived to join them.  
  
"What happened to him?" Peter asked Sirius, who was slightly amused.  
  
"Love," he said, and Peter blushed a bit. Remus took on the exact same look that James had earlier that morning, only he had a better reason for looking so exhausted. Sirius patted him on the back and started telling them the wonderful plan that he had concocted just a few moments ago. He was so infatuated with the plan that neither boy had the heart to tell him that it was indeed, the stupidest plan either of them had ever heard of.  
  
Meanwhile, you walk to the Headmaster and ask politely what he would like with you. You weren't used to so much attention from a teacher, since you weren't that popular, and you only spoke when spoken to or something was to be said.  
  
"Your drum major uniform is ready," he tells you, and levitates to you a garment bag. Immediately, your friends, who were also in the small Hogwarts Band, crowded around you more to take a look at what you've received. Blushing, you hurry to your dorms, your friends following behind you with excitement in their voices and action. Of course you didn't notice the four boys examining you, as was expected.  
  
"Oh, you're the first girl drum major in the Triwizard Marching Band ever!" Aaliyah, a flute player, cried in excitement. It was true. Durmstrang, Beauxbatons, and Hogwarts were big, boisterous schools, but when it came to the extracurricular music programs, they were as small as an ant. Ever since the music program started a few years back, it took all three schools to form a seventy member marching band. It was quite small, but it would have to do. By chance that year, you tried out for drum major (the person who leads the band by conducting during the show), and only two other people had auditioned, and since you were among the two who had the most experience, you got the position. The schools band members met in a neutral setting every weekend to prepare for their performances and competitions with other schools.  
  
"What was that about? What was she holding?" Peter asked curiously.  
  
"I don't know, but I am definitely going to find out!" Sirius said, with a new burst of energy, "For James!"  
  
James merely groaned and joined Remus in laying his head on the table.  
  
A/N: Sorry AGAIN for adding band stuff, but you have to understand! These two weeks are all band band band, and it seems that is all I'm doing! I'm trying really hard to make it work though, and I will make it as interesting as possible! Please review-the motivation really works wonders! 


	2. James

Before Lily  
  
By: Aaliyah-Charity  
  
A/N: Hey you guys! Here's the second chapter! Thank you for the kind reviews! Please keep them coming!   
  
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling totally owns 'Harry Potter'  
  
Chapter 2: James  
  
You went merrily on to your room and splayed out the big garment bag. The girls around you squealed in excitement as you opened it carefully. Inside it was an incandescent pure white uniform. It was to symbolize the unity of the three schools. The drum major sash to put across the drum major's chest was silver, glittered in sequins and sparkles. The shoes next to it were also coruscating and everyone was in awe of it. A girl to your left opened your shako box and in it contained a headgear that was also pure white with a silver stripe across it, with the three schools' crests. The plume that went on top of that was also lucent silver, and everyone was excited.  
  
"Wait 'til everyone sees you in this!" one of the girls squealed.  
  
"We're going to shake the foundations of this school!" another cried, and you guys went back downstairs for classes in an excellent mood. The girls had already bragged about your uniform to the boys, and they too were galvanized.  
  
"The competition is in three weeks! Do you think we're going to be able to pull it off?" a mellophone first year asked.  
  
"Of course we are," you told her, "but I think the Hogwarts branch needs to practice a little bit more on our own time. I might schedule some extra practices."  
  
You smiled at the groans emitted from them, but you knew it was necessary.  
  
When you went to your next class, Potions, you sat down contentedly. Nothing could ruin your good day. Nothing could touch your good mood. Nothing.  
  
"Hey!" Sirius said loudly to you. Somehow, you felt as though your good day was going to get slashed.  
  
"Hello," you say quietly to him. He was a very popular boy and Quidditch players aren't so nice to measly band wizards. At least not at this school.  
  
"So, tell me, what did Professor Dippet give you earlier?" Sirius asked, hoping to get a clue as to what you had received. He didn't know how difficult you would be, so he was very careful.  
  
"Well, Sirius, if you'd like to know, it's my drum major uniform," you say as proudly as you can. Sirius looked surprised.  
  
'Well, that was easy,' Sirius said to himself.  
  
"Drum major....so you play percussion?" he asked.  
  
"Oh no," you laugh softly, "I conduct the band."  
  
"Conduct? What?" Sirius asked, a mixed face of confusion and disgust on his handsome face.  
  
"That means I stand in front of the band and I direct them into playing the show in time," you say, "I'm not the only one though. There are two drum majors. The other one is a nice boy from Beauxbatons."  
  
"Oh," he said, "Are you dating anyone from this band?"  
  
"Oh no," you say shyly, "Everyone else is either paired off or too old or too young." Why was he asking you this? This was odd.  
  
"Are you interested in Quidditch players?" he asked, his face getting too close for your liking.  
  
"Well, I never thought of it," you say, feeling strangely uncomfortable, "Quidditch players only like the popular people in school, since they are, and I've never been very popular, so no. I'm popular in band, but that's because I have the highest student authority, but I'm afraid that in school, I am just too shy for popularity."  
  
He thought to himself for a moment, smirked at you, and then turned around to talk to his best friend. You were so confused after that, your alacrity gone and your head full of what might happen. You had forgotten that they were the school pranksters, and they were probably going to do something horrible to you. For a frightful moment, you were scared that they could do something to your new drum major uniform, but they couldn't be that heartless. Right?  
  
You were so worried about it, you couldn't really concentrate on what was going on around you. If anything happened to it, not only would you get into a lot of trouble, but also the entire Triwizard Marching Band wouldn't be able to go to competitions. That would absolutely kill you!  
  
You heard someone call your name, and you looked up to see James Potter, tall and confident, calling for you.  
  
"Yes?" you ask, clutching your books. What would such a popular guy want with you, especially after Sirius had already interrogated you with the drum major thing?  
  
"Would you like to have a drink with me at the next Hogsmeade trip?" he asked you, his hand scratching the back of his head. You were very startled. Could this be why Sirius was asking all of those questions to you? Could someone actually like you?  
  
"Why, sure, I guess," you say, quite shy at the moment. You remember quite some time ago when your sister said you were so ugly you would never get a date. You were extremely beautiful, but you were also very shy.  
  
"Okay," he smiled, all of his teeth shining, and he turned away to join his friends again. Now you very confused. And why was he so loud about asking you? Why were you thinking about this? You just figured it was because you were so inexperienced with guys that you were just nervous and paranoid.  
  
Later on, all of your band girl friends kept squealing about how THE James Potter asked you on a date. They were all shocked that you were asked on a date, but you took no offense to it. After all, you couldn't believe it yourself. Where would this all lead to?  
  
Lily Evans came up to you a little before bedtime, and she looked at you with pity. She was so beautiful, with the most striking red hair you had ever seen. She was someone who James would want to out with. Why you? You groaned to yourself mentally. A drum major is supposed to be confident to the point of egotism, not questioning every single good thing that happened to him or her.  
  
"(Insert name), you know you can do much better than James Potter," she said with disgust.  
  
"I know it's strange for a girl like me to be asked out by a guy like him," you say, unsure of what to say.  
  
"I'm not saying that," she said, looking at your face, "It's just that James Potter is the most vile creature that ever walked this school." The way she said his name made him sound like a nasty bug who murders.  
  
"I know," you say softly.  
  
"I'll be here for you if he does anything remotely retarded," she said, and squeezed your arm. She gave you a small smile and left for her own dormitories.  
  
You were so confused!  
  
A/N: Here's another chapter! Thank you all SO much for your kind reviews! I appreciate every single one of them! Thank you! (Keep them coming lol!) 


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